The Crimson Vermillion (Invited)

Hello! My name is Akina Tojo, the head and heir of the Tojo household, one of the three major families that make up the demon hunter organization in Midi. Though being the heir of the Tojo family, it is my responsibility to attend to the matters of the demon hunter organization in midi but as of now I have a more important duty.

I have to find my beloved big brother. I'm here today with Kona, one of the maids who's role is a medic. My days in Midi and in the demon hunter organization was memorable but as of now since father's death, I was granted the opportunity to travel beyond midi but not because I wanted to, I have to for big brother's sake.  

"Akina-sama!" Kona shouted a few meters behind Akina, waving her hands to get her attention.

"We've finally made a foothold here in Fiore, Akina! Should I go ahead and hire some locals?"

"That would be wise Kona, we'll need to know our way around Fiore if we are to find Big brother." Akina said as she and Kona headed over to the human resources department and file a request to whoever guild will be able to answer the job.

Apparently like Midi they have a job system here and you get to decide which guild you will give your request to. "I see, how convenient, Kona I'm letting you choose which guild will answer our request." Kona nodded as she signed the appropriate documents and both girls left the department and explored around the city first to familiarize themselves of their surroundings before heading back to the mansion. It will take a day for the human resource department to process their request before shipping it out the guilds.  

God help us find Big Brother soon...

The stinging pain that hit his head like a bat was quite enough to wake up Mura his morning. “Ouch… that clock,” he spoke up in annoyance, before adjusting his neck by rolling his head around a little, “Well… what’s the clock, then?” He slowly took up the watch, which’d fallen down on his face for one of countless times in the past; he should really spend some time bolting it properly to the wall, so it wouldn’t have to wake him up every day in the dawn. After putting the clock back on the wall again, he moved his half-sleepy legs across the hallway and towards the kitchen, where he instantly took out the sandwich from last night. Chewing a little on it, he began thinking about today; he’d ran out of herbs, so he should go out and get some more during this day. Slowly, his feet began moving towards the basement, where his spirit companion and partner in crime would reside. When heading down the stairs, he could clearly hear the swift moves of air being bushed away by a smooth object; he could tell by that, that his samurai buddy was still training.

“Hey, Kyuken,” he greeted him, when opening the door to the room. He could skin the ghost at the corner, sweat dropping down his contour. The samurai would quickly spot Mura’s voice and look back, replying: “Oh, hello, master..!” Having a good look at his face, Mura could tell that he’d trained quite a lot, despite being a ghost without a body to train. It was more of a habit for him, rather than useful improvement. “Well, let’s go. We got to get a refill on those herbs,” he told the spirit, before turning back and walking up the stairs again. Before he knew it, the spirit would soar above his shoulder as a bluish ball, never leaving his side when he was going out for stuff like this…

The air was quite cold, today. Mura had decided to wear a jacket on this time, instead of his usual shirt that exposed his torso. It would’ve made him catch a cold in this cold, so it was a good idea. Plus, it would balance his and his sword's, Harusame's, weight between each other, as he held it on his back with a rope. “Phew, it’s cold… it’s not usually this cold, though,” Mura spoke with Kyuken, “After we got the herbs, perhaps we should go get a cup of hot cocoa…” The samurai would nod to it with a smile, although he knew that he couldn’t get anything to drink. Despite the cold, there were lots of people out this time, and the crowds made it difficult to dash around carelessly. His eyes began moving across those strangers’ faces, just in case that something would happen to anyone. That was when he spotted a quite resembling face at the other side of the road; due to its appearance that reminded him of those from his home country, he couldn’t move his view away from her. She looked kind of troubled; at least, her soul did. Perhaps she was familiar with him in any way possible, because he knew almost everyone at Midi. With a sigh, he headed for the troubled soul, who turned out not to be alone. “Ehm… hey, are you okay?” he worryingly asked her, “You look troubled… wait, are you from Midi?” Apparently, he couldn’t wait to ask her that question later, and decided to throw it out at her already. Her appearance was very resembling, though; it was almost obvious that she had any connections to his native country. The spirit on his shoulder wouldn’t say anything yet, just checking out the two beauties in silence…

Indeed, they were going to head back towards the mansion in order to wait for the request to be fulfilled. Akina didn't seem like she's enjoying her trip around Fiore, if her big brother didn't wander off here on his own, this wouldn't have happened. Making their little sister worry is a crime worthy of punishment, at least that's what Akina would think, he didn't even get to say anything before simply just disappearing. From out of the crowds they were met with an unexpected local, however he carries a face that made him look like he was from Midi.


"E-eh?" Akina was startled, having someone random coming to the both of them was just so sudden, course her reflexes were to kick them but mentioning Midi brought her to her senses and so the urge was sublimed to curiosity. "Are you asking me?" Akina asked in a calm toned manner, from up close she seemed like a refined young woman that seemed that she hailed from nobility.

Kona's fingers snapped as she smiled at Akina, telling her this is her chance to grab a local. Of course as much as Akina would indulge herself to do so, she can't just pick anyone for it should be someone who's willing to see the search to the end and she hates deserters more than anything.
Ironic, her brother counted as one but of course she didn't hate him for that, there must be a good reason for him to disappear or rather it could be that he had no time to tell her.

"Well I am, who are you anyways?" Akina's gave Mura a stern look.

Their souls did look troubled, indeed. The mere reaction from Akina was enough to conclude that, though, but it appeared to be more than just a stranger showing up in front of them… perhaps they had a greater issue. “Yeah, you… I’m just curious,” Mura replied to her question. Although that he could clearly see their spirits within themselves, he was discreet with that fact, for now. It might look very weird for such a stranger to directly talk to them, but he had to find out if his theory was correct. Something odd was with her, though; as if she was more important than he thought, based on the look only. She expressed this noble atmosphere that resembled the same of how his father expressed back at Midi. It only made the similarity even bigger…

“I’m Mura. Mura Kensho of the samurai family, Kensho. You might’ve heard of them,” he replied with a calm smile, “I’m also a mage of Fairy Tail, so to say.” The boy adjusted Harusame a little, while Kyuken soared around the two ladies, most likely having his eyes on them. “…” Kyuken was suddenly fixing his eyes on Akina, seeing a resemblance on her and a specific group of people that he crossed paths with a little while ago. “Well, who are you maidens, then? You do look familiar, but perhaps I’ve seen you before..?” the samurai slowly asked the couple...

Grinding on the thing rooftops, sparks would fly behind his boots as he was going to Magnolia. Another order of sheet music came in, and he was going to deliver it in a less formal fashion than he normally did. The spiky brown hair blowing on his face, sheet music in a folder in his right hand, and his left palm facing forward out towards the Guild Hall area. He'll just drop by and leave the papers in some sort of office, hoping the aces would be able to retrieve it and get the sheet music to their master. Once that happens, he could return back home. The building came to an end, and so he would jump off, only to land back onto another building roof with a thin line at the time, continuing to grind. This was how he planned to get towards their guild hall.

The wind was moving along rather nicely today, it felt like cool water on his skin. He appreciated the air around his body, especially now that he became a Sky Slayer. Woohoo! Elyx would exclaim, jumping off the roof that was nearest to the guild hall, landing on the ground to create a dynamic entrance. Normally, he was calm and collective, but he was rather happy today for some reason. Everything felt right, and he acted like there was not a single problem in the world. On days like these, who could stop him from having any fun, even if it is as simple as grinding on rooftops like rails?

“The Kensho clan, I have heard of many families who are practitioners with magic and the blade but this is probably the first time I met someone of their like who actually works in a Fiore mage guild, my name is Akina Tojo and this is my maid Kona.”  Kona made a welcoming gesture.

“Pleased to meet you Mr. Kensho.” Kona gave the fairytail mage a warm smile while Akina gave him a look as if she’s suspicious of a member of Kensho clan walked up to her randomly. The Tojo is one of the major families in exterminating demons, especially the ones who are halfblooded; they train new demon hunters every now and then, course Akina’s father passed away a few weeks ago. That aside Kona was surprised to see Kyuken hovering over them but not out of fright, rather in a more welcoming way.


“Well, well lady Akina it looks to me we have a spirit caller!”
Akina was apathetic she expected someone form a samurai family to have their own tricks and a spirit caller is one of them. The Tojos were not so popular, of course considering of their decrease in family members, only a few members of the Tojos remain which is probably why Akina valued her big brother more than her dad.

“Ancestral spirit, you may have heard of the Tojos aiding the legendary Musashi in battle during the Lio Era.” It was before the Tojos became demon hunters, after Musashi’s death, the Tojo’s talents were recognized by the demon hunter’s organization and eventually the heir of the family that time converted his family members from warriors to demon hunters. Many events and exploits followed afterwards, however their bloodline is almost spent and producing heirs seems to be a difficult chore, whereas the reason for that is simply classified information only within the demon hunter organization.

“Well actually Mr. Mura” Kona spoke
“We just arrived here from Midi and was wondering if you could be our tour guide? No… we ask you something?” She grimaced; Akina was reluctant to stop Kona but kept silent to see what the Kensho boy had to say.

“We are looking for Lady Akina’s relative in this city so could you tell us if you’ve seen him? Apparently he said he’d be here but we don’t know exactly where.” Kona only said half the truth but the fact remains that Akina’s brother really was missing but for Akina’s sake she had to hide it and at the same time it would do effort to help look for him. She revealed a photo of Akina’s brother.

“His name is Shiki, have you see him?”

Mura would make a nod to the two ladies as they greeted him again, revealing their knowledge of his family. So they were familiar, after all. Although, their looks on him were different; the red-haired lady appeared quite friendly and cheerful, while the other’s look appeared to question him of something. He didn’t know what, though. “Hm, I’ve heard of the Tojo family from my dad, before…” he spoke to them, slowly tilting his head into remembrance. However, luck wasn’t on his side as he didn’t have ‘enough’ information about them other than they were dealing with demons. Perhaps that was enough knowledge.

Although, the fact that they’d aided Kyuken back then was surprising. Judging by the personality and characteristics of the legendary samurai, he didn’t seem the one to seek any help. At least not the one to call for help, that was. However, he might’ve been different back then, and not as cocky as today; however, the cocky face was gone, leaving Kyuken in an almost raging stage. Mura spotted it quite quicky, now that he knew that Kyuken didn’t want to be reminded so much of his past. He decided to prevent any trouble between the spirit and the girls by letting out a comment: “Huh? He actually needed help, back then?” Mura teased Kyuken by questioning the two Tojo’s, which made the warrior a little flustered, leaving the anger. “… Hey, it’s not like that I needed help or anything… perhaps I was more trouble-some back then than I am today, but I could take care of my own, no doubt,” the samurai replied, making Mura laugh a little. “Don’t mind him, he’s mostly like this…” he assured the two ladies, while shockingly patting the ghost, “And just for the record, I don’t really… you know, call spirits. My magic is a little different. If you don't mind, I can show you...” He suddenly held out his hand to let Kyuken’s spirit take the form of a bluish ball with his face and characteristic features on, “I bind them; meaning that I can fuse them into any object and make them enter this world… as a sword or anything else. Pretty much that.”

“Hm…” He began listening to Kona’s words as she mentioned this relative of Akina’s. He appeared lost in Magnolia, which must’ve been their reason of travelling over here. Well, thinking about it, he would’ve done the same if one of his relatives were missing from their family; family bonds were very close from where he came from. Like metal strings holding everyone together, unbreakable. Although, they seemed like that they were merely hanging out and suddenly, Akina’s brother went missing. It was quite different, and a way easier situation. When she pulled out the photo, both his and Kyuken’s eyes were fixing at the very face of this guy. “Hm… hey Kyuken, do you recall this face?” Mura asked his companion, who lifted up his head slowly. “I… think that I saw someone resembling that look nearby the guild. At least I guess that’s where he would be…” the spirit replied. Mura clapped his hands as an indication of being ready to go, before turning around. “Alright, then. Tour guide or not, I should show you around. Maybe we’ll find him sooner or later,” he told them with a calm and cheerful smile. He would then wait for them to move with him as he would show them the way to his guild, obviously the first place to check...

Kona looked over to Akina with a smile and Akina knows what she’s thinking. Releasing a small sigh, she gave a warm and assuring smile. “Well if we do find my brother, I’m going to punish him for keeping me and Kona in the dark.” Akina flipped her hair and crossed her arms, it seems now she was in good spirits. Kona must have done this so Lady Akina would feel a bit better even though Shiki isn’t around.

Basically as they walked around magnolia, Mura would have been asked with a series of questions as they moved around town, it was an interesting a lively place as they could see and still no sign of Shiki, Akina’s brother. Eventually they got a good tour of the town but when they arrived to the guild hall, Akina stepped back for a moment, her eyes traveled up to see the title of the guild.

“Fairytail huh? This is your guild isn’t it?” Kona asked.
Akina had no time to waste as she went on ahead inside the guild hall to see if her brother is around here. Although elegant and composed, deep down inside she was extremely worried about her Big brother. Her eyes scanned around the guild as Kona and Mura would follow afterwards and in order to hide her intent of worry, she commented on the guild’s style of architecture, which is modern than traditional unlike in Midi.

“Maybe some of the guild member knows?”
“Well hopefully they do, I did hear about Fairy Tail being a bit destructive in Magnolia though but its actually hard to believe it.” Well of course the guild hall looked fine today…. Tomorrow or other days it be a wrestling ring if one must know but Akina and Kona don’t know that.

---

On this fine day, a white haired priestess accompanied by her partner headed towards Kardia Cathedral. Her partner was a young woman, who also wore priestess garments and has orange long hair. The orange long haired priestess looked towards the direction where Akina and Kona were with Mura.

The white hair priestess stops to notice her partner staring at them.
“Who are you looking at?” the white haired priestess asked.
“They’re from one of the Demon Hunters, why are they here?”
The white haired priestess turned and proceeds to walk towards Kardia cathedral. “Its probably none of our concern sister Shirouko…”
“But don’t you think that they could have known of the recurrence?” Shirouko asked.
“That’s something we’re going to know sooner or later, now come, the Kardia Bishop awaits us.”

---

Questions asked: (This is optional)
1. So where do you live Mura?
2. What kind of jobs do you take?
3. For someone who’s born from Midi, why work here?
4. How old you were when they started training you?
5. You have a guild crest right? Can we see it?
6. A question for Kyuken, you were looking at Lady Akina, did her appearance caught your eye?
It’s a nice place; did this city have a festival recently?

While accompanying the ladies around town, he was asked many questions by them. Mainly about him and his doings here in Magnolia. One of the questions were about his reason of staying here, despite originating from a pretty great family in Midi. "Well, it's quite the story to tell ya... but I happened to visit this country once with my parents. I guess that I couldn't let go off this mysterious way that is magic... so I tried learning magic myself," he explained to them, while having his eyes fixed on the roads before them, "... Although, not many of my relatives liked the idea. We are mostly swordsmen, as you might already know; magic was very distant for them. At least, back then..." He tilted his head up to the sky, slowly remembering the early times of him being a mage. He would continue: "But someday, I got permission from my father to stay here and be what I wanted to be. And I'm happy for that." He slowly moved his eyes at the guild that they were about to approach. "I joined that guild a while after. They were surprisingly open with me, despite my young age... I guess that I was about 14 or around there," he told them, answering the other question that they came up with, "And yeah, all guild mages have a guild crest, so of course I do as well." He would turn his face around to look at theirs, slowly revealing his crest on the left side of his forehead as the gentle wind would blow the covering hair back. It was quite difficult to see, due to the hair that usually covered it, but that was his choice; not because of mere awkwardness, but because that he found it suitable.

"Well, I must say that she surely pleases my view, lady," Kyuken began flirting with a sparkling face, an utterly usual way for him to approach women, who could actually see him. Very resembling of the Guild Master, too; perhaps that's where he learned the 'sparkling' attitude. Luckily, the two Tojo's could clearly spot the samurai; if not, then who knew what tricks that he might've done to them. "Pft, that's not surprising when coming from you," Mura spoke to him, well-knowing of his thoughts. Although, he was quite right; Akina was, indeed, not an unpleasant look. However, as he felt it to be kind of weird, a little blush would appear on his cheeks, while Kyuken remained cool and sparkling...

Finally, they arrived at the guild, Fairy Tail. Today not as filled with mages as it used to, but not anything disappointing. "Yup. Welcome to my new family," he welcomed them, slowly noticing Akina's curiosity of this place. Perhaps she was fascinated by the design of the guild hall, as it was quite distinctive compared to the rooms of his own home in Midi. Although, her spirit was quite troubled, still... it must've been due to her lost brother. "... Well, feel free to ask anyone. They'll definitely do their best to help you," he assured her. She seemed to know a little about the guild, judging by her last comment; as a sweat drop trickled down his cheek, he couldn't deny the fact that disaster was quite close to this guild and its residents. Meanwhile, Kyuken was still outside the guild hall, trying his best to find this lost boy. He was sure that he could've been near the guild, although that was just a theory of his. He did spot many similar faces, but they weren't exactly the profile of the guy in the picture. "Hmpf... he must be somewhere. My warrior-senses tell me," the samurai complained, having his troubles in searching. Despite his wide area of search, he didn't exactly notice the couple of priestesses, who were seemingly looking towards him and the guild...

Akina had her arms crossed, her finger tapping on to her elbow and her eyebrow twitching and soon she'd turn her back on the guild and left the building.

"Akina-sama!" Kona called out to her mistress who just went outside the building, Akina just stood in a corner, contemplating on the method of finding him. "Aha, you have to forgive Lady Akina, its just that she has the ability to sense her big brother when he's near but she doesn't feel like her brother is in the guild at all."

Kona went after Akina with the intentions of comforting her but Akina remained silent as she sat down on a bench and thinks about what she should do next. Even if they were to explore, they aren't so familiar with Fiore and the idea about having to be told that their loved ones were near but they're not, does not give a good feeling.

"Um, Mura right?"
"Lady Akina is in a bit of a sour mood but if you're willing to come helping us tomorrow I think it would be appreciated. She's been really worried about her brother disappearing but since you know what he looks like, if you ever see him, please tell him to come home? Well as a matter of fact he isn't the only one missing, my little sister is missing as well." Kona wore a false smile and it seemed that Akina wasn't the only one worried about a lost relative, Kona's little sister was missing too.

"You see my little sister is Shiki's personal servant chances are if she's seen around magnolia, she may lead to where Akina's brother is." And she says all that with a smile as if she isn't too worried, afterwards they parted ways with Mura.

"Oh, I didn't spot that," Mura replied to the pink-haired cutie as she explained Akina's strange actions. Apparently, she had this connection to her brother, so that she could sense his near presence somewhere. "Honestly, that's a neat ability. I wish that I had that ability too... although, I don't have a brother, so it might be a waste of... yeah, you know what I mean." A moment after the strange, escalating words of Mura, Kyuken arrived. "I'm afraid that I can't spot him, and... did Akina just take her leave? Already?" Kyuken asked with upmost curiosity, forcing Mura to explain all by himself. "She seems to sense that her brother isn't here... just somewhere else," he told him, scratching his hair a little, "I hope that she'll find him soon..." He hoped for her best now as he found it as the best way and help to find him.

"Hm..." He listened to Kona's sudden words of having her little sister missing too, surprising the samurai as it was the first that he'd heard of it today. "Huh? Your sister, too?" he asked in surprise, which prompted Kyuken to ask: "Oh? Another lady is in trouble, eh?" Wow, these guys and their absences. He couldn't but scratch a little more of his hair when listening to it. He ended the conversation with a nod to Kona, before saying: "Don't worry at all. We'll definitely find both of yours' siblings, no doubt. Remember, I am Mura Kensho; so trust me." He left a smile at the end, watching Kona leave the guild hall, while a sigh came out of his mouth...

That night.....

The footsteps of a running man can be heard in the once flooded streets which are now abandoned. It was almost midnight and his sharp breathes echoe through every corner. Hiding behind walls and cover, he was so desperate to looking for a good place to hide from his pursuer.

Somebody... somebody help. It seems as if he was in trouble, he couldn't shout out or scream because he's being chased by what seemed to be a horrible monster, something that should have died or could have died.

crack, snap, bleed, bleed, hush... limp... sprint sprint and finally a groan. The corner of the alleyway, he was trapped and now between a brick wall and....


The dead, there's no escape, he's going to die.

(I apologize for the short post but this is all I could put out right now)

That same night, Mura was back at home and just preparing his dinner; rice, his last can of herbs from Midi and some dressing on top. "Mmm..." he mumbled by sniffing the smell of his soon-to-be devoured meal, "Now I just need something to drink..." He would move his hand towards an empty bottle, grab it and throw the very same spoon that he used to pour down the rice in it. With a flick of his fingers, magic happened; the spoon transformed into pure liquid. "Hehe, guess being an Onmyōji has its perks," he spoke for himself, taking a quick sip of his glass, "Hm... I hope that Akina and Kona are alright. Perhaps they already found their siblings..."

He didn't get to sit down, though, as screams suddenly came from outdoor. The shaman would quickly charge towards the door to see what was happening. When he swung the door open, he spotted a neightbor on his knees, literally pouring out tears of horror. "Ehm... woah, what's wrong, Kian?" Mura kneeled down to him and held his shoulders to calm him down. "Mura! Mura, my neightbor, you're a mage, right?!" the stranger whose name was Kian suddenly spoke to Mura, "I beg you! You have to get rid of this... this person! He's eating people, I saw it myself..!" Mura's body would give a twitch by that announcement; a guy out there eating people? Perhaps a crazy cannibal was set free? "Kyuken! Bring Harusame and Futsu-no-Mitama with you!" Mura called out to his spiritual companion, "We're heading over to see what's going on. Could you tell me the location, quickly?"

Living at the outskirts, he had an advantage as the guy from earlier mentioned the place where he last saw this 'person'. Honestly, it was pretty scary to know that a guy who seemingly ate strangers were all-free out here. Also, the fact that Mura couldn't spot the suspect anywhere at the abandoned area added to the effect of horror that surrounded the spirit samurai. "Kyuken... watch out for me," Mura asked Kyuken, who was more than ready to watch Mura's back. "I got it. Watch out yourself, too," the samurai replied to the younger one as they both could only search around the deserted roads for now...

It seems this wasn’t going to be a regular night in Magnolia, a victim was claimed that night and it seems that they were just about done devouring their victim. The night was as misty as ever, usually nights would be cold due to the absence of the sun, but for some reason there was heat in the area of magnolia, the stench of blood reeks in one block and in an alleyway was a monster trying to suck out the blood of its long dead victim. Mura would have found this monstrosity naturally, the sight of the scene would make stomachs churn, the monster was in a student’s uniform with jet red eyes, it stared right into Mura’s soul.

Mura was a living being, he was long dead.
Mura still lives, there’s heat and warmth in him.
Mura was young, flesh that’s fresh….
… which driven the ghoul to a frenzy and attacked Mura.

At the same time there was another of its like roaming around, attacking another woman as she screamed.

“How typical that they had appeared knowing our presence” said the white haired priestess.

“They really are getting desperate huh? Well I think it’s about time we get to work”said the other one as she leaped up in the air in pursuit.

“Sister Shirouko, be careful, the phenomenon might manifest here as we speak” the priestess voiced out in concern, praying that only for tonight, ghouls would have been the only problem. The source of heat seems to be coming from higher grounds but it’s strange that this source of heat is what’s driving all the ghouls towards its direction.

Mura was yet to find the cause of this incident, checking every corner of every building around here. Thanks to his lack of searching skills, he needed Kyuken to find the scene; massive amounts of blood on the floor, along with two figures. One of the figures were still moving, quite close to the other. It only took a brief moment to find out what was going on, though. "Master..!" Kyuken warned, "The victim! He's over there!!!" Mura would rapidly dash his feet towards the figure, quickly turn around and charge. "Shoot, what's that..?" he asked himself in shock, watching all the blood that was covering the unknown, quite zombie-like being. It looked straight into him from its dead eyes, soon to jump up and charge at him, seemingly intenting to have him as dessert. "Oh, no you don't!" he spoke to it, pulling out Harusame as he would show it some of his well-trained samurai skills. With a smooth, spinning jump over its charging body, Mura landed behind it and lashed Harusame through its spine; surprisingly, it didn't stagger nor hesitate in turning around for him. "Oh, that's just gross..." Mura would comment, watching the rotten blood trickle down its back. This situation was surely nasty.

"Where's its soul..?" he would ask himself, jumping back from its dangerous embrace, "Does that mean... that my magic won't affect it?" His magic focused on one's soul, so how would it work against a soul-less? Not wanting to waste magic power on a theory, he decided to pull out a new spell of his; grabbing a stone from the ground, he would crush it in his clenched fist and change its nature into pure metal. Thanks to his Onmyodo powers, it was also possible to form it, so that it would soon appear as a bubble before the shaman. The Onmyoji made a few hand-signs of mere, inherented instincts, and ended with a clap of his hands that caused the iron bubble to shoot out needles against the zombie, slaughtering it right in front of him.

"I guess that was enough..." he quickly commented, letting Kyuken spectate the outcome. Although, it wasn't easy to bring down; as he turned around, the monster appeared to move its fingers a little. Was it slain properly yet..?

Spell Used:

An area in Magnolia is generating more heat than ever and a few figures in the dark were drawn by it. As Mura would have taken one of the ghouls down, it would be impossible to not notice that there are still some more lurking in the streets, but all of them were heading towards the same direction, towards the higher areas of Magnolia. The temperature was almost the same as a hot sunny day and its strange.

Someone’s probably using magic and is responsible for this.

Should Mura investigate, he would see before him a lot of rotting and dead corpses similar to the one he encountered before, all were impaled by strange blades with red hilts. Mura may not notice this but the presence of these blades would threaten Kyuken, his spirit companion. These blades are no ordinary blades but those that impale “What cast a shadow and exist under the sun”. It was strange and terrifying and any of Mura’s spirits would be threatened by the sight of it.

For one these weapons were blessed and are holy, they were exorcism blades but these were not the type of weapons Midi monks and omnyouji would use, they are different and scale beyond a different level to the point that what Kyuken would define “A feeling of punishment”.

Up ahead were two figures in the distance, one of them had a distinct glow, their hair was crimson red, the other one was covered in robes that almost look like church garments.

“I suggest you leave this place now, you’ll only burden us more.” Said the robed clergy

“Heh, as if I were to follow the orders of a mere executor!” shouted the blazing crimson haired woman.


“I believe you do not understand the situation you’re in, or know how I work. Any heretic that I see in my area, I slay it no excuses.” The executor grinned taunting the Crimson Vermillion.


“I thought I made myself clear, I will not follow your orders, the sight of your members irks me to the core and if you insist on pestering me even further then I cannot guarantee you will come out of this one unscathed.” The crimson vermillion starts the emanate waves of heat that would spread out in a huge portion of Magnolia.

The heat waves can be felt, all the trees and plant life were starting to wilt, a slaughter fest between maidens is about to begin.

His eyes couldn't stop looking around, given by the atmosphere. The heat, the strange warmth that surrounded the shaman and Kyuken, was quite unusual as it was night. Although it was summer, was the night supposed to be this hot? Magnolia was a mainland city, further away from a coast than cities like Hargeon. Perhaps that was the factor that rendered the heat possible. "Master, isn't it a bit too... hot in here?" Kyuken would comment the weather, "Phew... and Hera isn't even nearby... I didn't know that ghosts could sweat." Mura couldn't but tilt his head to that statement, then move a little further into the streets. The ghoul that was taken down earlier would most likely not be the only one out here; it would be quite the strange situation, if there was only one zombie. Judging by what he knew, zombies were always plural, no matter the situation. It wasn't a professional conclusion of his, yet he betted on that possibility. Slowly sheathing Harusame, he would dig deeper into the outskirts of Magnolia's highlands...

It wasn't a very nice view, due to all the rotten corpses that were left in the middle of streets and upon walls of old buildings. It would be painful to watch, but a guy who was regularly involved with dead people could only express curiosity, especially to the weird blades that were left on the rotten flesh. "Huh... who would leave those nice swords on the corpses?" he would ask himself,not having noticed Kyuken's back-off. The shaman approached one of the many corpses that resembled the one that he just fought against, studying the blade that was impaled in the green-greyish flesh. He could sense a energy surging from the blades, like some kind of spell was casted upon it. "Hey Kyuken, do you recognize these weird swords... Kyuken?" he would ask his shaking spirit companion, who was still holding his distance from the swords. The samurai would try and reply: "... Those... those blades aren't for fun." It was the first time that Mura saw Kyuken so afraid of mere swords; the legendary samurai was afraid of sword?! Perhaps these ones weren't as ordinary as he thought.

His eyes would travel forward, watching across the road as he spotted two moving figures in the distance. "Shoot, are those zombies too..?" he would whisper to himself. However, by time, his eyes would adapt to the shadows that blurred the view, thus notice their outlines and appearances. They didn't look very 'undead', and their souls were apparent, so perhaps they were just other people or civilians that were lost in the alleys. Based on his sense of hearing, the two figures were having a conversation, but he couldn't really fathom their words from this distance. He could only sense a reaction from here, when the resembling heat hit him like a bat. "Wait, this heat..." he spoke up, "So one of them are the source of it. Maybe they're involved with the zombies, don't you think, Kyuken..?" Mura would turn his head around, only to spot Kyuken slowly recovering from the weird-looking blades from earlier. His scared expression would quickly recover when he spotted the two ladies from afar. "Oh, don't they look nice..." he spoke, turning his predator-like mode on and moving forward, only to be spotted by Mura's hand. "Don't you make this worse, you pervert..." he scolded the samurai, "Besides, let's see what'll happen now. If one of them are the cause of this mayhem, then they might as well reveal themselves sooner or later..."

They both attack at the same time, the Crimson Vermillion launched an array of piercing attacks with the use of her hair, each attack is embezzled with heat that would sear anything, while the Executor fired off a lot of her blades at once towards her.

The Church Executor
Some of her blades were knocked off by the Crimson Vermillion’s attack, causing them to scatter everywhere, stabbing upright on the groud, some would hurl towards Mura by accident. She backed away and because of how limited her arsenal of blades was, she had to use them sparingly against the Crimson Vermillion.

The Crimson Vermillion
She was successful in suppressing the Executor’s attack but she was far from done, her hair extended attacking the Church agent, there were numerous strikes and cleaves, her hair was now as sharp as the Clergy’s blades and a simple mistake may not only scratch shirouko but burn her.

Shirouko
Its almost near impossible to battle against the Crimson Vermillion at close range and the length of her hair keeps extending, it also hardens to act as a weapon and lash out at enemies from a distance but this gave Shirouko an idea, she jumped and dodged the numerous attacks and ran up towards the building walls as the Crimson Vermillion’s attacks would follow, she ran sideways and jumped to impale some of her hair strands skillfully with her blades which she successfully did. Though the heat wave has become a bother, she twirled to fan herself as she moves in and attacks.
Shirouko drew a specific blade to which would startle Kyuken.
To kyuken’s understanding it was a more powerful blade of “punishment” with a specific mechanic.
Shirouko strike a strand of the Crimson Haired Maiden’s hair and slid with it, coming in close and close to her.

The Crimson Vermillion
She underestimated her opponent, she managed to pin some of her hair strands down but with heat, the pins would slowly melt until it was weak enough for some of her hair strands to move and defend herself.

Shirouko
Her defenses are useless, the special blade she had was to pierce through her heated hair and thus it did, if she managed to dodged, then her shoulder would have suffered a scratch as it went through, the special key was thrown as a projectile and thus…

The Crimson Vermillion
“WHAT?” She was surprised, the Crimson Vermillion did not anticipate her defenses be penetrated or bend before the incoming blade pointed at her, she dodged in time but her shoulder suffered a deep cut as it pass through her.“!!!” She was injured, the heat in the area died down but her hair remained in that color. She freed her impaled hair strands and used them to attack in an attempt to pierce her.

Shirouko
The Executor simply threw the blessed projectile and then jumped over her and picked it up, dodging her counter attack and quickly point it at her. “You’re hestitating… it’s a problem for us both.”

Akina could only just sneer at shirouko, she was on her knees and the thickness of her hair faded as she tried to catch breath. Kona’s voice can be heard from a distance, she was looking for Akina till she saw Akina with her Crimson Hair lashed out everywhere.

“NO! KONA RUN!” Akina shouted but an attack was already launched before Akina could even shout.

Several blades were hurling towards Kona, Akina’s strands of hair wouldn’t make it in time to defend her.

All of a sudden, a clash emerged from the two strangers in the distance, fascinating Mura as he was spectating from the dark alley. While 'spying' on them, he could gain a lot of useful information about these ladies, who appeared not to be as friendly as he thought to begin with. "That's some fire power there," he expressed, once again feeling the abnormal heat surge towards him, "That must be from the long-haired woman... huh?" Despite that it wasn't his intention, something very familiar was shining from her; her soul, that was. Although, his eyes moved away from her, before he could convince himself enough, swiftly checking the cloaked swordsmaster. "Hey, those swords... don't you recognize them, Kyuken?" he asked his samurai fellow, who reacted quickly to the sudden presence of another enchanted blade. Mura was left unanswered, and very ignorant. "Kyuken? Seriously, what's the matter with you?" he curiously asked his friend, "Don't tell me... wait, there's something with those blades, aren't there? You also seemed very scared when we encountered those inpaled people earlier..." He wasn't sure, and only left to theorizing, but perhaps those blades had a special ability to fracture one's stable mind; at least, one's soul. Although, it only affected Kyuken... was it some kind of soul-slaying item? "I don't know, honestly," Kyuken answered him, after a long break of hesitation, "It's just... it keeps reminding me of a very bad feeling... like some kind of punishment for us spirits..."

He kept studying her use of that blade, trying to grasp a better sense of its magic power. It had to do with something magical. She used it quite well, along her many other blades that came out of thin air. The battle between those two ladies appeared intense, but eventually, the crimson-haired lady was brough to her knees. Something told him to put an end to this fight; he had no idea of these women's identities, but something familiar was coming out of the heat-spreading woman... no way, it was...

He just managed to realize who it was, when Kona's voice was heard nearby. K-Kona?!, he spoke up in his head, quickly looking around. He spotted her in an opening at the middle of the alley, open for the cloaked lady's blades to be hurled at her. There was no time to waste; Mura knew that he couldn't reach her in time, so he swung up Futsu-no-Mitama and launched a giant, bluish, auric slash that surged through ground itself on its way to her. However, the aura wasn't meant to hit her in any way; in an instant, the blades that were aimed at her were repelled by his little sword art. It was quite close, but yet a marvelous view; having the auric blast cover Kona like that was a nice move. Once the blades were stopped, he expected his unveiling and dashed out from the shadows with confused Kyuken on his grab, facing both the cloaked stranger and who appeared to be Akina. "..." His eyes were twisted with earnestness, darting through the Church Executor's being, "Akina, just what's going on? Who is this lady... and what's with all that hair?" Rapidly, Kyuken would soar around Akina to take a look at her new appearance; a sigh would come out of him afterwards. "She looked much cuter earlier... but I must say, that hair-style expresses wild spirit. Can't say that it's not my taste at all..."

Skill Used:

It was a normal summer night in Magnolia the streets were filled with light from the street lanterns. the back alleys though weren't as bright. Well this is just great... How could Julius possibly get lost in back alleys... Julius only has heard bad stories about them... Julius would get scared from every innocent there was. Every step Julius took would only make him more scared and anxious then he already was. Maybe if Julius takes a left here and takes a right somewhere further...

30 minutes later.

Oh come on! This is the fifth time Julius passed this café sign! *sigh* Of all the times Squable had to be at home it just had to be tonight... Julius could go inside the café and ask the way but it was already closed. YAAAAAAAAAAAARGH Suddenly Julius heard a scream awfully close to him. Julius heard skipped a beat and slowly made his way towards the origin of the scream. Julius slowly peeked around the corner and there he saw... The corpse of a dead man. Out of shock Julius pulled hes head back and rested his back on the wall. I-I-It is a corpse! *pant* *pant* *pant* Julius couldn't really handle the corpses. Julius slowly walked towards the corpse and started inspecting it. The thing that stood out the most was the sword sticking out of the man's stomach. Julius took a better look at the sword it looked like a ordinary sword. Who would do such a cruel thing?!

Suddenly Julius noticed the man's hand twitching. Julius quickly backed off and kept watching as the man stood back up. Ummm... Sir? Is everything alright? The man didn't respond and tried to attack Julius. Julius swiftly dodged the attack and ran away. At this point Julius didn't hesitate a moment to think off a way to get out off the alley and started running into random directions. Julius stopped for a moment to catch his breath. *pant* What in the... *pant* world... *pant* was that? After Julius finally regained his breath he noticed that a rush off heath covered his body. Why is it so hot suddenly? Julius started to sweat and made his further into the alley.

Suddenly Julius heard the sounds off a fight being held somewhere. Julius didn't hesitate a moment and tried to pinpoint the location off the battle. When Julius finally found the battle he kept himself hidden behind a corner to fully see what the situation was. He spotted 2 ladies one wearing a clerk and one with a ridiculous amount of long hair. But he also spotted Mura a guild mate of Julius. it looked like he was having a though time. Julius didn't hesitate a moment and ran towards him. Oi Mura-kun! Need a helping hand?

“!!!” The executor jumped up into the air as the attack would pass through and land on the ground swiftly, picking up two blades that were already stabbed on the ground (Whereas it was used to throw as projectiles at the Crimson Vermillion earlier).

“It seems there are a lot of nocturnal mages than I thought, you mages must be from the famous fairy tail eh? I see the Tojos hired these gullible thugs to do her bidding. Do me a favor and step aside mages; I rather not have any interference with my work.”

Kona bowed to Mura in gratitude and ran up to Akina, the Crimson Vemillion. “Lady Akina! You shouldn’t be going out like this!” Upon closer look, Akina wasn’t alright, her throat felt like it was burning, she breathes almost as if she held her breathe for a very long time.

“You didn’t take your medicine, here!” Just before Kona was about to administer Akina’s medicine, Akina slapped the medicine off, panting and struggling to stand up. “I-I… will..” Akina’s hair shrinks, the Crimson Vermillion was no more and all heat in the area faded, her hair was back to how it used to be and finally she collapses out of exhaustion.

“What fool, she’s willing to fight to the end, now then I sha-“

---

Out from the distance, away from the fight and standing on Kardia Cathedral was the white haired priestess, she groomed her red cloth and closed her hands together in prayer.

“Shirouko, our primary mission is to eliminate all the ghouls in Magnolia.”

(Tch! But all these idiots are a liability, they don’t know what’s coming to Fiore!)

“I understand how upset you are but its an inevitable fact that the Phenomenon will have to cloth itself in rumors, return to me Shirouko I need you back here in Kardia Cathedral, we are done for today’s work.”

(….. Understood..)

---

“.. shall say this, the Lord has called me to grant you mercy but remember this, your sins will bring the most dire of consequence!” She drew up a page with an inscription as it flew up in the air. All the blades littered across the battlefield disappeared, leaving nothing but their hilts that gathered towards the page, as the Holy Scripture swallowed the hilts whole. It flew right to the Executor’s hand as she put it away on her sleeve.

“Farewell, mages, Tojos, when it comes… all of you are part to blame.” The executor jumped up high into the air and disappeared into the night.

“Why, why would she attack us? We don’t have anything to do with the Church! We need help, someone help me take her back to the mansion.”

As Julius appeared a moment after his attempt to shield Kona, Mura passed his eyes towards the guild mate. "Oh, hey Julius," he greeted, "Nice that you found me. I feel like needing a helping hand, here..." The words spoken by Shirouko were intimidating, also indicating that she was determined to finish her job with Akina; a lady, whose life meant a lot to one like Mura, who didn't even kow her that much. Perhaps it was both their connections to the land of Midi that put his heart so close to her, and he did love his country. However, this magic power that surged from her... she didn't tell him about it at all. He barely knew that she could utilize such power. She was the head of the Tojo family, and she mentioned their demon hunting status, so maybe that was a part of the family's demon-slaying techniques.

"Hurry and get used to it, 'cause I won't let you harm her," he replied to Shirouko, quickly pointing Harusame towards her as he pulled it up form the sheath in the blink of an eye. Akina looked exhausted from her battle, but something odd was with her throat; also the part where Kona mentioned 'her medicine' triggered his curiosity. He focused his gaze at Shirouko once again, prepared for any charges that this cloaked lady might pull out. However, she suddenly called back her blades with words that indicated her lost interest for battle. "... Huh? What sins..?" Mura asked in worry, but the cloaked swordslady departed them with a last statement. It was quite confusing; apparently, she blamed them all for something. It would've been nice to tell them what exactly was to blame, but he guessed that he couldn't ask her now.

"Alright; Julius, we have to hurry! Akina looks quite damaged..!" he told his guild mate, before approaching Kona and K.O Akina. He would take one arm and pull her up to his shoulder, but the heat of hers hadn't disappeared completely. Also, it was still immensely hot. "Ouch,  ouch, ouch, ouch... can you help me, Julius?" he let out while holding her, showing quite the struggle and the need for help to lift the heating body, "...Wait, you said Church, Kona. What kind of Church do you mean... could you explain what's going on with Akina and those guys?" "Why would they hurt Akina?!" Kyuken cried out in pain, "She was just looking for her brother! What's with all this?!"

Julius was glad to see that Mura was alright and that he accepted Julius' help. Julius wanted to ask Mura what was going on but he thought it would be for the best to wait for explanations. The woman in the clerk was calling out to the two Fairy Tail mages even went so far to call them thugs. Excuse Julius but... did you call us thugs ma'am?! You better take those words back or else Julius will make you eat them! Julius was to much offended by the fact that she called them thugs that he didn't paid any attention to the rest she was saying.

The woman in the clerk was speaking once again but suddenly stopped mid sentence only to continue a few moments later saying that the lord has given them mercy and left. She took along the swords she had used during her battle with MuraHey! come back here right now ma'am! Julius sin't done with you yet! Julius could complain all he wanted but that woman wasn't coming back.

Julius turned himself towards Mura. Are you alright Mura-kun?! You aren't hurt? Mura didn't care about his own well being and quickly asked Julius to help the girl laying on the ground which he called Akina. Mura only touched Akina's arm and quickly pulled his hand back. It looked like that Akina's body was covered in heat. Mura asked Julius to help him once again. Well Julius could use water magic on her but Julius sin't sure if she would cool down... Hmmmmm... Then suddenly Julius got a idea and pulled out of his coat pocket a pair of dark blue leather gloves. Julius would put these on and carry her back! While we are walking you two could give Julius a explanation with what is happening! Julius putted on the gloves and grabbed Akina.

“I’ll explain when we get to the mansion!"Kona said as she was accompanied by the two fairytail mages carrying Akina to the mansion. When they arrived by the gate, Kona simply opened it and thus they entered, the first thing they’d see is a wide garden whereas flowers were supposed to be planted but since they only had just moved in here. Upon opening the huge doors, there were two staircases, and a guest hall, Kona request that both of the fairy tail mages were to wait here for awhile as she moves Akina to her room. Of course none of them can come since it be rude to come in to a woman’s room.

What they can see were various statues and sculptures of the ten wizard saints, traditional portraits of Midi and paint Kyuken can recognize, and a portrait of “The Six Samurai” that represented the six elements, water, fire, earth, thunder, light and darkness. The Six Samurai was then when Kyuken was probably still a child and died when Kyuken was at that age.

It had a mix of Fiore and Midi cultures, high quality fiber curtains, good furniture and chairs, there’s no doubt that the Tojo family is rich.

“I apologize for any inconvenience that has happened but now I will answer your questions.” She called out to the two fairytail wizards as she descended down a flight of stairs.

“What you saw was Lady Akina’s Inversion Impulse, the Crimson Vermillion which allows her to become quite powerful if she were in her top peak condition.” She spoke these words with a smile almost as if Akina being injured didn’t even happen. “The lady Akina was fighting with was probably an executor from the church or so I heard, as far as I know this church where the executor comes from is the Christian type church.”

The Church as everyone knows is a place of worship, everyone sending their prayers to God and remembering him as the almighty father, and then there was Jesus the Son, Mother Mary and the Holy Spirit. The church’s aim to the public eye is to have normal everyday citizens remember that God exists and because of him we are blessed with a world of magic. However there are some cases, forces that would threaten the church, May it be the dead or anything they consider unholy in their doctrine. Its not known to many but the Church has its secret organizations, a military faction similar to the Demon Hunters, the difference between the Demon Hunters Organization in Midi and the Church was that the Church hunts no only demons but things that were dead, supposed to have died or exorcise a great evil, such as Naraku the disaster zone. They act as protectors but have no love to those who they consider blasphemous or heretic in nature.

“If you’re wondering what it has to do with Akina it was because Akina had a bit of demon blood in her lineage.” This was something Kyuken wasn’t aware off, the Tojos who were once his allies consorted to breeding with demons. “So seeing as the church knows that, their executors deem her as a threat.”

Kona asked them to wait as they were approaching her and Akina's residence in Fiore, seemingly a freaking mansion. It was quite hilarious; she told them as if it was completely typical to live in a mansion during a journey like this. Who would've known, Mura could imagine himself searching for a cave or an opening in a forest to rest when travelling to a strange country with no relatives or familiars to reside with. A mansion?! A mansion?! They live in a mansion?!, he shockingly began to think so loud that he thoght that they would be able to hear it themselves, ... That's some money-burn, if you ask me. It could be due to their status in the Tojo family, and it was quite a rich company that they had. However, that fact was still too incredible to fathom quite clearly...

As they entered the mansion, the beautiful residence that looked newly-bought, Mura and Julius were asked to wait for Kona to put Akina back in her bedroom. As if he had any plans to enter it, anyways; all he knew was that Kyuken had. As he thought about that, Kyuken was already sneaking towards... nowhere as Mura grabbed his collar. "No, you don't," he scolded the creepy samurai, who saw his chance fade away, reacting with comical tears. Mura's eyes would then travel across the room that they were in, watching sculptures and paintings of various figures and elements from Midi and Fiore. "Woah, they sure made the best out of their journey, guys" he commented, "They even have a sculpture of Heero... what are the odds. I wished that he was here to watch himself in awe." Kyuken would have his eyes bolted on another portrait of 'The Six Samurai', seemingly quite familiar with it. "Hey, do you recognize them? Are those guys your past friends?" Mura curiously asked him. The samurai would have tears pouring down as he turned around, answering: "T-Those were... my idols. The Six Samurai; they're the reason that I ever considered becoming a swordsman." He would then soon emerge into a classic cry-scene of pure nostalgia and childhood memory with his arm covering the weeping face, leaving Mura with sweatdrops trickling down. He moved over to Julius and quickly made a summary of the situation: "You see, those two ladies... they are from Midi. Like me. They're demon hunters; not demon slayers, but hunters. And they're looking for a brother of theirs... but everything else is a surprise." The executors and church was quite new to him, judging by the information that he gained from Kona and Akina at the beginning.

Finally, Kona came back from the stairs and began responding to their questions. She explained about Akina's condition, the Crimson Vermillion... so she did have some kind of magic. He couldn't imagine it as anything other than magic. "A church... but why would they go after her..?" he asked with worry. She replied that it was due to Akina's lineage as she had a connection to demons... Wait, she was a demon hunter, but demon herself? Or, well, partial demon, but still; it was to be questioned. "Demon blood? But she hunts demon, no?" Kyuken would've asked out in confusion. "Yeah, that's weird... although, I guess that they trust Akina enough. I mean, she is the head of a demon hunter clan, Kyuken," Mura would reply to him, "... But it's surely weird... like a samurai, slaying other samurais... wait, isn't that normal?" He would stop himself from total confusion there, shutting his mouth for the moment.